The UK-based travel magazine Conde Traveller has listed Pakistan as the top holiday destination for 2020, owing to beautiful landscapes and improved law and order situation.
9th Dec known as Hangor Day is celebrated with fervor and zeal in order to pay tribute to the brave war veterans who struck terror in the hearts of the enemy by sinking the Indian Navy ASW Frigate INS KHUKRI and crippling INS KIRPAN during the 1971 war.
The spectacular war action took place 30 miles South East off ‘Diu Head’. The event is distinguished in naval history as being the first ever kill by a conventional submarine after World War-II. In recognition of their courage, the valiant crew of PNS/M Hangor was decorated with 04 x Sitara-e-Jurrats, 06 x Tamgha-e-Jurrats and 14 x Imtiazi Asnad.
On 9th December 1971, the UK build Indian Anti-Submarine frigate INS KHUKRI was sunk and INS KIRPAN was badly damaged by the Pakistani Submarine PNS/M Hangor. The significance of this encounter increases manifold when viewed in retrospect that it was only the first occasion after world War-II, that a War ship was sunk by a conventional S/M in a live encounter at sea. Although the sinking of Argentinean Cruiser Gen Belgrano by RN nuclear S/M HMS Conqueror in 1982 Falklands war is only the second such action/occasion in the present history; nevertheless, PNS/M Hangor till to date remains on the honour list as the only conventional submarine in the world to have achieved such a distinction.
NEW YORK: Wall Street hedge funds and lawyers have turned an arcane procedure of international treaties into a money machine, at the cost of the world`s poorest people. The latest shakedown is a $5.9 billion award against Pakistan`s government in favour of two global mining companies Antofagasta PLC of Chile and Barrick Gold Corporation of Canada for a project that was never approved by Pakistan and never carried out.
In 1993, a US-incorporated mining company, BHP, entered into a joint venture (JV) with the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA), a public corporation in Pakistan`s impoverished Balochistan province. The JV was set up to prospect for gold and copper, and in the event of favourable discoveries, to seek a mining license. BHP was not optimistic about the project`s prontabihty and dragged its feet on exploration. In the early 2000s, it assigned the prospecting rights to an Australian company, which created Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) for the project.
By: Dr Syed Akhter
The World Bank’s latest rankings of 190 countries on the Ease of Doing Business (EDB) is out. Pakistan did well, considering it moved up 28 rungs on the rankings ladder, from 136th place to 108th. In this latest round, Pakistan is one of 10 countries (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Kuwait, China, India, and Nigeria) that have improved the most across at least three of the 10 factors that go into constructing the EDB rankings. The annual report received wide publicity on its arrival because the rankings matter. They reflect how conducive the regulatory environment is for opening a business, getting a location, accessing finance, dealing with day-to-day operations, and operating in a secure business environment. They also enable both intra-country and inter-country comparisons. They show not only how a country has fared over the years but also where it stacks up in relation to others. The rankings, therefore, are useful not only for domestic policy makers who find out how successful they were in improving the regulatory environment, but also for business executives who need to make decisions about which countries to enter for investment and business expansion.
Businesses look at rankings to make sense of the regulatory environment. Thus, if a country’s ranking is high, the likelihood of being included as a candidate for further review is greater. On the other hand, if the rank is low, decision makers may not even look its way. In this regard, the rankings may serve the purpose of a travel advisory. If a travel advisory is in effect for a country, one would refrain from going there; but if one does need to go there, extra precautions would be warranted.
The government is currently in the process of introducing a pre-screening test before participants can appear for the actual CSS examination. Following the PM’s approval, the proposal is now all set to come before parliament. The PM’s Special Adviser on Establishment says these changes are synonymous with the PM’s vision of transparency, integrity and efficiency-based governance. According to the adviser, the screening process will also split candidates into three groups: the Pakistan Administrative Service, Inland Revenue Service, and the International Relations group. Even though federal officials claim these reforms aim to eradicate the “superiority complex and lingering colonial mindset”, they seem to forget that the Civil Service itself is a derivation of the colonial legacy.
By Waqas Ahmed
The alarming outcome of this year’s Central Superior Services (CSS) exam sent shockwaves through the country’s community of young professionals and left many wondering what went wrong. Less than three per cent of those who appeared for the competitive exam was able to clear it, according to results put up by the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) more than a week ago.
But this year’s outcome is far from an anomaly when taking into account previous years’ results. Data obtained from the FPSC by The Express Tribune reveals past years’ CSS success rates have been more or less within the same range, raising questions regarding the efficacy of both the assessment process and the country’s education standards.
Of the 43,097 candidates who have appeared for the competitive exam over the past four years, only 1,444 or a meager 3.35 per cent managed to pass it, according to the FPSC data. In contrast, this year’s CSS success rate was only slightly less at 2.56 per cent.
By Anwar Ali
The Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) recently declared the result of the written portion of the examination of the Central Superior Services (CSS) conducted in February 2019 across the country.
The statistics given by the FPSC for CSS-2019 are dispiriting. The number of candidates who appeared was 14, 521 and out of them only 372 could pass the written examination making the pass percentage stand at 2.56. In contrast, in CSS-2018, more candidates had passed the written examination. In 2018, the number of candidates appeared was 11, 887 and out of them 569 passed the written examination making 4.79 the pass percentage. Now the question is this: what are the reasons for the dismal performance of CSS candidates?
By: Waqar Azeem Jappa
Media’s portrayal of this unique success story has been a bit patriarchal, ironically, this is what the super sisters claim to have fought against
Laila, Shireen, Sassi, Marvi and Zoha are the five names that have become known to almost every social media user since the written part of the CSS result was declared by Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) on 10th of October, 2019. Thanks to social media, these magical young ladies are probably now more popular than many of our parliamentarians. Both, national and provincial assemblies, male and female. Molana Fazalur Rehaman, the leader of the holy lads is an exception though. His popularity and demand has grown manifold in media since he announced to launch an Azaadi March to topple the change regime of the Prime Minister Khan and his allies.
During these best of the times as well as worst of the times in the local politics, the nation should seriously thank FPSC for announcing the result. People now have something as inspiring to talk about as The CSS Girls who made their parents proud in the time of Molana. Otherwise, we were left with nasty memes on TV show Mere Pass Tum Ho, love and hate soaked reviews on Coke Studio’s new offering Wohi Khuda Hai by Atif Aslam and all the praise for Umera Ahmed’s Aalif whose Qalb-e-Momin has dropped another tweet bomb by indicating to leave entertainment industry soon. If this happens, Umera Ahmed should be ready to take the blame for snatching one of the industry’s heartthrobs from millions of young girls.
The celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1 will be an exuberant affair, involving glitzy cultural events, an extravagant state dinner attended by Chinese and foreign luminaries, and a grand military parade in Tiananmen Square. And, at a time of high tensions with US President Donald Trump’s administration, it will be imbued with an extra dose of patriotic enthusiasm. But while China has much to celebrate, it also has much work to do.
The first 30 years of rule by the Communist Party of China (CPC) are judged harshly, owing to the disastrous Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. But these were not lost decades. On the contrary, major strides were made in modernizing China: local and national power grids were established, industrial capacity was strengthened, and human capital rapidly improved.
In a major reshuffle in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the appointment of ambassador Munir Akram as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, the Foreign Office announced on September 30, 2019.
Akram will replace Dr Maleeha Lodhi, who has held the office of Pakistan’s envoy to the UN since February 2015.
Akram has served as Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN previously as well, holding the office for six years between 2002 and 2008.
The sudden announcement comes a day after Prime Minister Imran and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi returned to Pakistan after wrapping up their visit to the United States to attend the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.